In a nozzle plate of a liquid discharge head that discharges droplets, a liquid-repellent film is formed on a droplet discharge surface (also simply referred to as “discharge surface”) in order to perform stable droplet discharge.
For formation of such a liquid-repellent film, there are liquid-repellent materials that use a chemical compound having a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) skeleton in its molecules (PTL 1).
In some cases, a liquid-repellent film is formed on a face of a droplet discharge surface in a nozzle base member where nozzle holes serving as nozzles are formed and is formed at least on the droplet discharge surface of an inner wall of the nozzles. On a surface of the liquid-repellent film formed on the inner wall of the nozzles, numbers of liquid-repellent groups per unit area are successively reduced from the droplet discharge surface toward a side away from the droplet discharge surface (PTL 2).